Ai no Hana
by Hiei's Queen03
Summary: When Sasuke publicly humiliates Naruto in front of the whole school, and Gaara sees how much this crushes the blonde, he makes it his mission to make the blonde his. SasuNaru. GaaNaru. Rated for later.
1. Betrayal

**This is Hiei's Queen03 reporting!**

**This is a rewrite of the Love Blossoms fic I did a while back and I decided to rewrite it from another perspective.**

**Disclaimer: All characters that appear in this Fanfic are sadly are not a part of my ingenious thinking. That credit belongs to Masashi Kishimoto. However, The only thing that I can claim is Jin and the plot that was created out of my mad little mind.**

000

Ring!

Uzumaki Naruto groaned as he rolled over to turn off the alarm clock, falling off of the mattress in the process.

"Ugh! Another boring day at school," he thought as he struggled to get up off the floor and towards the bathroom to get ready for the day. About a half an hour later, he had showered, eaten breakfast, and attempted to tame his impossible jungle of blonde spiky hair.

As he came out of the bathroom, he reached into his dresser drawer to retrieve a pair of socks, and attempted to get them on while standing up, only managing to lose his balance and stumbled into a pile of clothes that had not made it into his hamper. Noticing his favourite black and pink screen t-shirt among the pile and after smelling it to make sure it was at least somewhat clean, he grabbed it and yanked it over his head.

There was at least one good thing about today: Naruto had a date with Sasuke!

This meant he needed the perfect outfit, so as quickly as possible, Naruto grabbed a pair of tight black jeans, struggling slightly to get them on as he dug around in the disaster that was his closet. It took a little while but he emerged with a triumphant cry, holding a black studded belt and a pair of sneakers. This completed his perfect outfit! Naruto was fairly certain that Sasuke wouldn't be able to keep his hands off.

000

When Naruto got to school, he slowed his pace, as he loved to jog to the school. It wasn't too far from his house and running around Konoha Academy's aged yet prestigious looking buildings, greenhouse, track field, and garden always calmed the rambunctious blonde before the school bell rang.

He jogged, humming quietly to himself, and he soon had run a full circle and arrived at his favourite spot, and sat down under the enormous Sakura tree.

He loved to sit here, especially in the springtime, until his best friend showed exactly five minutes before the homeroom bell rang and he and Haruno Sakura would go into the school together.

He had been best friends with the pink haired girl ever since first grade, when the rosette had stood up for him when a group of kids had bullied him on the playground and had stayed close to the blonde ever since.

She knew all of his secrets, every single one of them, including how much he had been hurting every since his parents were murdered and his brother started working at the CSI lab as a weapons analyst.

While he was waiting, a tall raven approached from behind.

"Hey, Naru," he purred in the smaller boy's ear.

The blonde jumped and then looked up to see his boyfriend, Uchiha Sasuke.

"Oh! Hey Sasuke," Naruto said, recovering, "what's up, sexy?"

"Nothing. What about you, dobe."

The blonde made a face at the last word, but gave him a chaste kiss on the lips anyway. "I'm good, teme. Are we still on for tonight?" Naruto asked, pulling away quickly.

"That's what I kinda wanted to talk to you about. It's just not going to work."

"Oh. That's okay," Naruto was only slightly surprised by the raven's aloof behaviour, but knowing that Sasuke could sometimes be a jerk, he didn't dwell on it for too long. Unfazed, the blonde smiled and asked, "How 'bout Friday?"

"Yeah… Friday. I'll see you later," the raven haired boy said, smirking as he left.

Naruto frowned at this.

He and the moody raven had been together for three months ago, but as of late, the raven had been distant.

Naruto started to panic as he wondered if the Uchiha had found out he had only fallen for the dark haired brooding yet handsome Adonis because he could never hope to get with the man of his dreams: Gaara Subaku.

However, he pushed those thoughts out of his mind with a shake of his head.

The blonde smiled as he thought back to the first weeks of their relationship when he would open his locker every morning to reveal chocolate or a long-stemmed red rose from the dark haired Uchiha waiting for him. Sasuke had even bought him a stuffed fox, that Naruto kept on his bed, when they went on their first date.

Things weren't going good between him and the raven right now, but the kitsune knew that Sasuke loved him.

Moments after the Uchiha departed, Sakura arrived and raised her eyebrow in a silent inquiry for the blonde to explain what just happened between him and Sasuke, however, Naruto just brushed it off as Sasuke being on his period. After sharing a laugh about the Uchiha, the two friends hurried towards the school and walked in together as the bell sounded for homeroom.

000

For some reason, as he was walking to his class, Naruto couldn't shake the bad feeling in the pit of his stomach. All throughout class, Naruto kept noticing that the popular kids kept looking at him and whispering when they thought he wasn't looking.

This made the blonde curious, and he decided that he would ask Sasuke when he saw him at lunch.

000

When the bell rang, signaling the end of the period, Naruto grabbed his lunch and sat at his usual table and waited for Sasuke.

As he got his lunch out, a boy at the end of the table looked up at the blonde and gave him a funny look.

"What?"

"You can't sit here," a boy said.

The blonde gave the boy a goofy smile.

"Sure I can," Naruto said, looking at the boy like he had gone mad, "I'm waiting for Sasuke."

The boy sneered."Sasuke doesn't want you anymore. He said that he broke up with you, so you can't sit at this table anymore."

At those words, the blonde visibly flinched as if he'd been slapped.

_Sasuke said he broke up with you._

That couldn't be true, could it?

These were just baseless rumors that someone had started just to break up our relationship. That's all it was. Naruto tried in vain to convince himself of that, but the uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach, from earlier this morning was back and it was stronger than ever and it throbbed—like someone had taken a spear and stabbed him in the gut. He had to find Sasuke; he was the only one who could clear up the ridiculous rumors and make this feeling go away.

He searched frantically around the cafeteria. He found his boyfriend. Sasuke was seated at a different unfamiliar table talking to another boy. It was a redhead and it took Naruto a minute to realize that Sasuke was talking to Subaku Gaara. The blonde's heart skipped a beat as he stared at Konoha Academy's most intimidating, yet most beautiful boy.

_Huh? _Naruto thought to himself. _That's weird. When did Sasuke and Gaara start talking._

Naruto made his way over to the table and walked timidly up to his boyfriend, drawing the attention of two piercing gazes. Sasuke's obsidian eyes were filled with a dark amusement, while Gaara's cold, emerald gaze was completely bored. The power of those stares sent an icy shiver down his spine, but he couldn't back down now. He had to find out the truth.

"Sasuke, can we talk?"

"Not now. I'm busy."

The blonde almost flinched at the harshness of his voice.

"So is it true? Did you tell your friends that you broke up with me? That you didn't want me anymore?"

Gaara frowned as he saw the tears well up in the blonde's eyes as his voice cracked on the last syllable.

"Yeah, I did. I just couldn't take being with you anymore. "

"B-but why would y-you do that to me?" Naruto said, the tears spilling down his cheeks.

The raven looked him up and down, incredulously.

Look at you, Naru!" Sasuke said, loud enough to cause everyone in the whole cafeteria to stare, "You're effeminate! You dress like a slut, and you're a weak! I mean, you're a good uke, but there is such a thing as too submissive, but maybe that's why you dress the way you do, hoping that some boy will be turned on enough to fuck you."

And as Sasuke turned his back on the blonde, Naruto couldn't control his reaction. Tears cruising down his cheeks, he turned quickly, to run out of the cafeteria, to the laughter of the popular kids.

000

Sakura wasted no time storming over to the table where her best friend had been standing moments ago. Her emerald eyes were gleaming with fury and her pink hair whipped around her like Medusa's snakes, poised to strike. Her rage led her to stand directly in front of the Uchiha, who she slapped across the face with every ounce of her strength.

A stunned silence settled over the cafeteria as Sakura Haruno glared at the stunned raven in front of her, hands on her hips.

"You bastard!" she yelled shrilly, "Go to hell!"

And she turned on her heel and stormed out of the cafeteria.

Sakura made her way to the gym, which she knew was one of the blonde's favourite hiding spots. The rosette would often find the kitsune hiding here or in the campus garden, where no one dared ventured, when he felt really down and felt like crying. Just like him, the quiet helped him think.

"Naru?"

"I'm over here."

The blonde came out of his hiding place, tears still streaming from his face.

"It'll be okay," she said, hugging her friend, "you're too good for that Uchiha anyway. He doesn't deserve a boy as good as you."

000

One other person that wasn't impressed with the Uchiha was Subaku no Gaara.

Gaara had a dark and dangerous personality that surpassed even Sasuke's, and he was pissed.

"You haven't changed at all, Uchiha," Gaara growled, "If you wanted to break up with him, you didn't have to do it in public, damn it."

"Why do you even care, Subaku?" the raven haired boy said, smirking, "no one would want to be with a dobe like him anyway. I like a man to challenge me, not a little boy who'll give into whatever I tell him to."

The redhead's eyes flashed dangerously.

"Hn. Why don't you try being one yourself for a change?"

"What did you say?"

The redhead simply rolled his eyes and got up.

"Since you're so smart, I'll let you figure that one out, Uchiha."

As the redhead walked away, the image of the crying blonde kitsune burned in the back of his mind and Gaara decided that he would prove the Uchiha wrong and make Uzumaki Naruto his so that the blonde would never cry again.

000

That night, Naruto was curled up in a ball on his bed, crying for the second time that day.

He knew he and Sasuke were going through some problems, but they were supposed to be going on a date tonight to work those said problems out.

But he never thought that the raven would dump him and do it in front of the whole cafeteria.

Now, he just wished that his brother would come home early, but he knew that was asking for too much.

Since his parents died when he was eight, his older brother Jin was all he had left.

Jin was the head of the best CSI team in the state, so with the rash of teen boys being murdered in the surrounding cities, he often didn't come home until eleven at night at the earliest.

000

Jin finally pulled into the driveway, and sat in the car for a minute to collect his thoughts. It was a worn 1980 Mustang Cobra. The car had definitely seen better years. The red pain, once shiny and rich like a candied apple was now dull and rustic. The body had several dents along the driver's side, and one of the tail lights was cracked. Yes, the car was a classic and it had been through a lot, but its past was what gave it character, much the same as its driver. The only thing that mattered was that the car drove like a dream, the engine purring like a jungle cat as it idled in the driveway. Jin loved his car, and he made certain to check it over only a weekly basis, performing maintenance when necessary to assure that he wouldn't be caught unaware by a sudden malfunction.

The worn Cobra had been a present from his parents for his sixteenth birthday. That had been the year he had graduated and two years before they were murdered.

He had been hoping to get things at the office wrapped up in time to make it home at a descent hour, so that he could talk to his little brother for a little before the blonde went to bed.

But no such luck.

He would just have to shoot for the weekend, the redhead thought as he got out of the car and unlocked the front door.

Walking into the kitchen, he groaned inwardly as he looked at the digital clock from the stove, which read, 12:35.

He knew, or at least hoped, that his younger brother would be fast asleep.

As he turned to walk out of the kitchen, a bright orange sticky note attached onto another piece of paper caught the redhead's attention.

He sighed as he picked the paper and looked at his younger brother's math test.

"That kid never ceases to amaze me," the redhead muttered to himself, a bittersweet smile crossed the elder's lips as he saw 81 written on the paper in red ink.

A note was written underneath in handwriting that Jin recognized as Iruka Umino, the blonde's current and Jin's former math teacher.

It read: good work Naruto! I knew you could do it! Now if you could just stop goofing off a little in class. Tell your brother I said hello!

Jin laughed to himself as he put the paper down and made his way to the blonde's bedroom.

He quietly opened the door and walked into the warzone that was his brother's room, trying not to make a sound.

However, his smile faded as he got closer to his bed. He saw the tear marks on the blonde's face, he that made the redhead wonder what had made his little brother upset and he decided that they would definitely talk Friday night when he got home.

**000**

**Seeing that this is a very different direction from what I took the original in, tell me what you think. What will the next day hold for our favourite lil kitsune?**

**You'll have to tune in to find out.**

**BETA NEEDED!**

**As as always R&R!**


	2. You Only Get 1 Chance

**Hiei's Queen03 here! Thanks to LadyEudave05 for the words of encouragement! I felt the need to update just for you, so enjoy.**

**Shout out to BIG yaoi fangirl! I know what you mean. Us fangirls have to stick together!**

**Chiko92, I know what you mean, but Naruto will be much happier! **

**Dattebayo Luna and Ginny don't worry. Sasuke has been tried and found guilty of breaking poor Naru's heart. He will face the maximum punishment at the hands of Gaara!**

**Thanks for the hilarious review, Banjo the Fox. There will be more Sasuke bashing for you to enjoy in upcoming chapters, I promise.**

**000**

**As always, all characters are the work of Kishi-sempai. I only have Jin, my plot, and my mad, mad, little mind. Muhahaha!**

**000**

**Chapter 2: You Only Get 1 Chance**

**000**

Haruno Sakura walked down the semi-abandoned hallway, humming to herself, as she headed to her locker. There were a few stragglers that were passing by, on their way home from after-school events. She sighed as she put her books in her locker and took out the ones necessary to complete her assignments; however, the rosette paused when she saw a shock of familiar blonde spikes out the corner of her eye. Stuffing the books into her messenger bag, she slammed the locker door shut and quickly made her way down the hall to where the blonde was headed towards the front door.

"Naru, what are you still doing here?" the worried pinkette asked.

The blonde in question raised his head up sharply, as if just noticing her, and Sakura noticed curiously how his eyes seemed to have almost a reddish tinge to them.

"Oh! Hey Sakura. I was about to get ready to walk home."

"So, I guess Jin's not coming to pick you up?"

The blonde shook his head, a sad smile gracing his lips. "No, he just called me. He got called to another crime scene. They said another boy got killed and dumped in the woods, so it'll be another long night."

The kitsune shivered lightly at the thought, but then yelped as he tripped over his own feet in his thinking. "Itai."

Sakura nodded as she laughed at the blonde's clumsiness. She knew ever since his parents were killed, Jin now had to provide for both himself and his younger brother, and so he had thrown himself into his work. She had no idea what it was like to lose her parents to a murderer, who apparently was never caught, but she knew that the blonde didn't like to be in the house by himself which is why he would wait so late to walk home. Sometimes, her parents would pick her up and they would drive past the park that was near their house and see the fox swinging on the deserted property. Her parents had even gone out of their way to let the Uzumaki know that he was always welcomed in their home, but he never seemed to want to take them up on their offer.

"Well, I'll see you tomorrow," the blonde said, breaking the Haruno out of her thoughts.

"Okay, Naruto," she said waving as he was already halfway out the door, "be careful and get home safely."

He nodded once to let her know that he had heard the farewell and then the blonde took off running.

000

It had been a week since their break-up, and Sasuke seemed to be ignoring him, which was just fine with Naruto. However, the kitsune also noticed that Gaara seemed to be checking him out a lot, which was unnerving yet exciting.

It was Wednesday and Naruto was barely awake. It was just eleven o'clock in the morning, and the blonde was already wishing for the end of the day. He was walking to his third period class, engrossed in a daydream, when he crashed into someone.

Not even looking at the person, he snapped, "watch where you're going!"

He got up and brushed off his clothing and was about to keep moving; however, a pale hand shot out, preventing him from moving any further.

That's when the blonde realize who the hand belong to. With a blush beginning to dust his cheeks, he looked down and muttered, "Sorry, Gaara-san."

The red haired boy did not reply. However, Naruto yelped when, without warning, the smaller blonde found himself pinned against the nearest locker.

The Subaku's face leaned in very close to his and said, "This time I'm letting you off with a warning. Next time, you won't be as lucky"

And with that, Gaara released the smaller teen and walked off to his next class, like nothing had even happened.

000

Gaara didn't see him again until lunchtime. Their eyes met for a brief moment as he was passing the table where the redhead and some of his friends sat. As their the blonde averted his eyes and walked on with his bestie like nothing had happened, Gaara couldn't help but wonder if the blonde noticed how hot he really was.

Hyuuga Neji, who sat quietly at the table noticed the look of barely controlled lust in the redhead's eyes and looked at Gaara questioningly, hoping that he would tell them something, but noticed that his gaze was elsewhere and had turned into a glare hard enough to freeze the entire cafeteria.

Neji and the others at the table followed his now icy glare to the popular table, where a particular moody raven sat with his friends. A red haired girl was joking and laughing with a white haired boy named Suigetsu Hozuki while the Uchiha just sat there, smirking, as he stared in a particular direction

However, it became clear to everyone at Gaara's table why the redhead was getting pissed at the raven. Sasuke was staring directly at Naruto, and then looked almost mockingly at the Subaku before turning back to his friends.

"Gaara?" Neji finally said, snapping the redhead out of his fury, "You look like you want to kill him?"

"Hn. Wouldn't be such a bad thing," he said smirking, making all of the people at the table sweatdrop. "Did you see the way that bastard was looking at Naruto? It was like a dog in heat. If he thinks this is a game, I'll prove him wrong."

Shino was silent, but admired the Subaku. When Gaara set his mind on something, it was guaranteed to happen. And he had turned his sights on Naruto Uzumaki.

"And how do you plan to do this, Gaara?" Neji smirked.

"Beat Uchiha at his own game," Gaara said, producing a smirk similar to Neji's, "it's elementary, Watson my dear."

000

During math, their last class of the day, the redhead couldn't help but stare at the blonde as he chatted with his pink haired friend.

As Kakashi Hatake droned on at the front of the class about the quadratic equations, Gaara found himself lost in his thoughts, as he remembered when he and Sasuke had been together and how bad their break-up had been. The bastard had cheated on him and there was no fixing their relationship. Gaara had wanted to warn Naruto when he found out that the blonde kitsune was dating Sasuke he hesitated because he wanted to see if the Uchiha had changed any. He should have known that the raven was just using the blonde. Just like he had used him.

The raven in question sat a couple of rows away from the red haired boy and Sasuke was seething.

'What right did that damn Subaku have to try to claim Naruto? He just can't come in and try to take what isn't his!'

The raven didn't comment and decided that he would see how far the redhead would take it before he would take action.

As the bell rang, a mad dash ensue as students got their stuff into their messenger bags before they all but ran to get away from the evil building that kept them prisoners on such a bright sunny spring day.

Gaara noticed Sakura looking worriedly at the blonde and heard a part of their conversation as they passed.

"Naruto, so is your brother actually going to be at home for a change and not at a crime scene?" she said in a mock motherly voice.

"Yeah, he decided to work from home today so he has nowhere to go!" the blonde said, gleefully as they walked through the classroom door.

Gaara decided that now would be a good time to start his little plan and was about to pursue when he heard a growl from behind him and turned to see the raven staring daggers at him.

"You stay away from him, Subaku!" he growled through clenched teeth.

"Why should I?" the redhead said amusement dancing in his emerald orbs at the nerve of the Uchiha's statement, "it's not like he's yours anymore anyway, now is it?"

"Hn," was all the Uchiha said, as a dangerous look crossed over the raven's features and then his face was unreadable as he stuffed his book into his bag and left.

The redhead wondered how he should go after the blonde when he was pulled from his thoughts by a loud noise that had come from outside. As he rushed out of the classroom, he froze at the scene in front of him. Sasuke was at the blonde's locker and had his hands on either side of Naruto's head, trapping him.

"Naru, I'm sorry," the Uchiha said, kissing him on the cheek, "I made a mistake, and I realize that now. Give me a second chance, and I'll prove it to you."

As he looked up, Gaara could see the shine of probably well-rehearsed tears. '_It's like watching a crocodile cry, really,'_ the redhead, thought bitterly as the Uchiha ducked down to place a kiss on the blonde trembling lips.

"I can't Sasuke," the blonde said as the tears started to make tracks on his face, "you humiliated me in front of the whole damn cafeteria, and you expect me to just forgive you. You only get one chance to love me and you hurt me instead. I'm sorry."

"What did you say!" the raven barked, sending chills down the blonde's spine.

The harshness of the raven's voice woke the Subaku out of his thoughts and he strode over to where the raven had just punched the blonde and yanked the boy off of the smaller teen.

"Stay away from him, asshole," Gaara bit out, his eyes flashing with anger, "If I see you near him ever again, I'll kill you, do you understand?"

"Hn. Whatever bitch," the raven muttered as he walked away without a backwards glance to his two ex-boyfriends.

_'Subaku may have won this round, but Naruto will come back to me when he realizes that I'm the best that his loser ass is ever going to get.'_ The Uchiha thought bitterly as he walked through the large oak doors of the school building.

"Thanks, Gaara-san," the blonde said, relief colouring his tone; however, the blonde's joy was short-lived, as the redhead shoved him up against the locker for the second time that day.

'What did I do now?' the kitsune groaned inwardly as the redhead leaned in.

"What did I tell you earlier?"

"That next time you saw me, that I wouldn't be as lucky," the blonde whispered, closing his eyes in expectation, but they shot opened when he felt a pair of lips against his neck and couldn't help but moan as the Subaku bit into the smaller's soft neck.

The redhead's eye looked up when he heard that moan which turned him on especially as a slight blush crept across the blonde's face.

Suddenly, a thought came crashing down to Earth. The Uchiha and everyone else knew that Naruto walked to and from home due to his home being only a ten minute run. Sasuke would be expecting Naruto to be walking, and who knew what he had planned for the poor blonde.

"Meet me at the side gate to the parking lot in ten minutes," Gaara instructed after letting go of the blonde fox.

This request confused the blonde and he voice his confusion. "Why?"

"Because I've seen you walk home, and I bet you that's what that Uchiha is counting on so he can make a move, but he won't mess with you if I drive you home."

The blonde couldn't help but think that the Subaku had a point. Sasuke wouldn't dare mess with him if he was with Gaara. Plus, he couldn't exactly keep his eyes off of the beautiful redhead.

With that last thought, he mentally scolded himself as he felt his cheeks burn. _'Naruto, stop acting like that! Even if you like him, you don't exactly know that he shares the same feelings.'_

Naruto was pulled out of his thoughts when Gaara's breath tickled his ear.

"Huh?"

"I said, I'll see you in ten minutes."

"Okay," the blonde said, starting to walk off to go meet Sakura at their spot, under the main staircase, to let her know that Sasuke hadn't killed him. That was the last thing that he needed the rosette to think; she would go cannibalistic, on one unfortunate Sasuke Uchiha.

As the redhead walked away, he looked over his shoulder and watched the blonde walk over to the stairs, where a certain pinkette emerged.

_Things were certainly about to get interesting._

**000**

**Whew! I'm so sorry that it took me 3 days to update, but you see Mother's Day preparations got in the way and writing fan fiction is only second to spending time with my mother and family on a grand occasion such as this. I mean it only comes once a year! XD**

**As always R&R! Reviews of all kinds are welcomed! And flames will be used to roast marshmallows on Sasuke's carcass after Gaara kills him!**


	3. Awkward Moments & New Possibilities

**Shukaku and I thank you guys for reviewing, favouriting, and following.**

**D: Thanks for the compliment. I know that a lot of Naruto stories have some form of Sakura bashing. However, I like my stories to be UNIQUELY mine, which is why instead I picked Sasuke (Not that I don't like Sasuke; he's an interesting character with an interesting background) **

**Yaoi's of Naruto: I plan to give some more details about Jin in this chapter, so I hope it's to your liking.**

**LadyEudave05: **thank you for being such a loyal fan!

**Disclaimer: As I mentioned in the first chapter, I DO not own any of the characters in the Naruto Universe; all rights belongs to Kishi-sempai. If I did, Naruto would be a very different anime world...**

**000**

It had been a week since the incident with Sasuke had happened, and Naruto was still unsure of where things stood with Gaara. Were they friends or were they more?

As he sat daydreaming in his math class, those were the questions that were still running through his mind

He was so preoccupied with his thoughts that he didn't notice that the math teacher, Umino Iruka was no longer up at the front of the board but was now standing in front of his desk.

"Naruto!" the brunette teacher said, loud enough to grab the blonde's attention, "can you tell me what the answer to the problem on the board?"

Jumping slightly, the blonde looked up at the board and answered the problem correctly, causing Iruka to frown, but he nodded and continued with his lecture.

Naruto shook his head, trying to dispel the thoughts that were running around so rampantly in his head. With fixed determination, he managed to pay attention to Iruka's lecture and take notes in the notebook that, up until then, he had been doodling in.

When class was over, Iruka called Naruto up to his desk, a worried look in his brown eyes.

"What's up, Iruka-sensei?"

"You seemed so unfocused today, Naruto. Is there anything wrong?"

Iruka knew about the incident with Sasuke, all the teachers did as it was all the students were talking about. For a moment, he wondered if that was what was bothering the blonde.

"I'm sorry, Iruka-sensei. I just had a lot on my mind," the blonde said quickly. He didn't really want the brunette teacher to worry as Iruka was also a family friend and the blonde knew that it was a possibility that Jin could be tipped off, which was something that didn't need to happen.

Iruka frowned as he knew that Naruto was hiding something, but he decided not to press the teen any more than he had; he had already made the blonde late for his next class.

He wrote a tardy slip for the blonde so he wouldn't get too much grief from Anko; she was a stickler about being early and on time. As he gave the teen the note he said as a sudden thought, "Naruto, I'm here if you ever want to talk about anything."

The blonde gave a brunette teacher a small smile as he accepted the note and nodded before disappearing through the door.

000

When the bell rung, signaling the end of the school day, Sasuke watched bitterly as Gaara walked over to the blonde and whispered something into the smaller boy's ear. It had spread like wildfire through the school that Gaara had stolen the blonde from the Uchiha and had the Subaku had threatened the raven in the hallway to stay away. Sasuke was going to make him pay for the humiliation he was handed.

He was pulled from his thoughts by a blonde moving into his field of vision as the Uzumaki walked by him with Sakura in tow.

"So Naruto, do you have a ride home? Or are you going to walk home?"

"Gaara offered to give me a ride home. Jin didn't want me walking to school while he works those murders. You know they're getting closer to town, so…" the blonde trailed off, shivering at the thought.

As the Uchiha stowed his books into his messenger bag and walked into the parking lot, he saw the blonde walking towards the Subaku's jet black Ford Focus.

000

As Naruto headed towards the black Ford Focus, he could see Sasuke out of the corner of his eye and he briefly wondered why he was in the parking lot. Was the Uchiha stalking him or something?

However, he was granted an answer as he reached Gaara's side. A sleek gray Mercedes pulled on the other side of the parking lot and when the figure got out of the driver's seat, Naruto gasped.

The action didn't go unnoticed by the redhead and Gaara raised a nonexistent eyebrow at the blonde as he followed Naruto's glance to the car, where a tall, long-haired raven in dark blue jacket stood and he seemed to be looking for someone.

"That's Itachi. He works for my brother," Naruto said explaining his reaction, "but I don't know why he's her-"

He stopped mid-sentence when he saw Sasuke walking towards the taller raven, who was leaning against the car. Itachi looked up at the approaching teen and merely nodded as Sasuke hopped into the car. Itachi got in and was driving away when a particular shock of blonde hair caught his hair. Recognizing the teen as Jin's younger brother, Naruto, he stopped.

"Naruto?"

The blonde, who was about to get into Gaara's car, looked up in surprise to see that the grey Mercedes pulled to a stop in front of the car. He looked up to see Itachi looking at him with those piercing onyx eyes.

"Hi Itachi. Is something wrong?" he said, shifting uncomfortably; it was unnerving to have Sasuke and Gaara glaring daggers at each other while he was talking to said raven's older brother.

"Do you know where Jin is? He hasn't been answering his phone at all and we need his approval to run some tests on that boy that was found the other day," the raven said, trying not to give too much information away, but he needed the blonde to understand that this was very important.

"Jin said that he was taking the day off, which is why he was actually there this morning when I got up. Did you try the house phone?"

"Damnit Jin. Of all the times for him to take a day off," he said while shaking his head. Then thinking quickly he asked the blonde for a favor.

"Listen Naruto, can you give this message to your brother as soon as you get home?"

He waited until the blonde nodded to continue. "I need him to call me as soon as possible. Tell him to call me on my cell. If I don't pick up, it's because I'm in the cemetery visiting my mother and I'll call him back as soon I can get a signal."

"Okay, I guess I'll see you later, Itachi-san."

As he turned to get into Gaara's car, the blonde could've sworn that he saw a face just beyond the gates of the parking lot and closed his eyes as a shiver ripped through his body. He opened his eyes and looked back to see nothing. He shrugged and got into the car, not noticing the worried look that flashed across the elder raven's eyes before the car took off.

000

The car ride to his house had been a quiet one. Gaara could tell that the blonde was thinking about something, but he didn't want to upset him so he remained silent.

Naruto was wondering why Gaara had taken an interest in him all of a sudden, not that he was complaining; this is was what he had wanted in the first place, but now he found himself wondering the redhead's motives and decided to speak his thoughts. He just hoped the redhead wouldn't take it the wrong way. Fidgeting with his fingers, he asked nervously, "Gaara?"

"Hmm?"

Taking a deep breath and closing his eyes, Naruto asked the one question that was running through his mind like a wildfire. "Why did you do this? I mean, why would you date someone like me?"

The Subaku was silent for so long that Naruto thought that he wasn't going to answer the question. However, he turned to the fox as they stopped at a red light and Naruto averted his aqua eyes at the look in the sea green ones which held a mixture of hurt, passion, and something else that the kitsune couldn't pinpoint.

"It's because I know what it's like to be tricked by that black haired bastard. I wanted to say something, to help you somehow. I wanted to tell you all about how the Uchiha was going to play you like a fool and then make you look like an ass, just like he did with me."

"What happened?" The blonde asked, blushing when he realized what he had just asked. He had no right to ask that of Gaara, as that was none of his business, "I mean only if you want to."

Sensing the blonde's uneasiness, the redhead gave him a small and rare smile before he turned his eyes back to the road and continued to drive. "It's okay. Last year, before you came to the academy, we were together. We were the "it" couple of the school; I was the most happy and felt like I was on the top of the world because he made me feel special. Everywhere we went everyone looked at us and smiled because they knew that we were happy with each other. But then, that Sasuke did something that I could never forgive him for."

"What did he do?" the blonde whispered as he felt like the suspense was going to kill him.

"I caught that bastard cheating on me with a senior in the gym. I watched him let the boy take him and the only reason that they stopped was because I screamed Sasuke's name. When he turned and looked at me, there was this dead look in his eyes. There was no life in them. Then, he just turned and walked away with the senior. I was crushed and all I remember is wanting to just make him come back, but then all I felt was rage bubbling up inside and I wanted to kill him for breaking my heart into a million pieces. So when I found out that you two were together, I wanted to warn you and tell you not to mess with him unless you wanted to get your heart broken. The only reason that I didn't do it was because he told me that he had changed since us, so I wanted to see just how much has changed, but he hasn't changed at all."

When he had finished, he closed his emerald eyes and let the blonde ponder over what had just been said.

They had arrived at the blonde's house all too soon and Gaara cut off the engine when the blonde finally spoke and said something that caught the Subaku off guard.

"I was really in love with you."

"What?" the redhead said, teal eyes snapping open.

"I've always had a crush on you, but I just went with Sasuke because he wanted me to and because even though I knew that being with you was an unobtainable goal, I figured that if I was with Sasuke, I'd be living in the dream of the next best thing."

"Naru…" the redhead breathed, his normally stoic eyes showing a deep emotion that Naruto could not pinpoint.

Then in a flash, he felt his lips smash against the smaller pair. At first, the Uzumaki was stock still in shock, but begin to move his lips after a moment.

"Damn, this is good," the redhead thought as his lips molded with the blonde's like the perfect puzzle piece.

When they broke apart, both breathing heavily, the blonde raised an eyebrow in a silent inquiry.

"I don't know," Gaara replied to the unspoken question.

The blonde only nodded. After a moment of comfortable silence, the blonde said, a bright smile on his face for the first time since the thing with Sasuke went down, "I'll see you tomorrow."

The Subaku nodded, a smirk on his face as he gave the blonde one last chaste kiss as he got out. The blonde felt his cheeks burning as he touched his lips and watched as the Subaku drove off.

000

The blonde walked into the house, he groaned at the all-knowing smirk on Jin's face; he had seen everything that had just happened in the driveway.

"Otouto, I thought you were with Sasuke," the elder Uzumaki inquired, sweeping a stray lock of his shoulder-length red hair out of his face.

The remark made the kitsune sweatdrop; he hadn't told Jin about the break-up yet, as they never seem to be together at the same time.

"You see, Sasuke dumped me in front of the whole cafeteria and Gaara was the one I wanted in the first place, so…"

The redhead closed his aquamarine eyes, remembering the blonde saying that he wanted a popular red haired sophomore.

"That sophomore, right?" he asked, trying to corroborate his suspicions.

The blonde nodded, and Jin could only laugh at the dreamy look that his foolish otouto had on his face. However, the redhead frowned when the blonde's dreamy look disappeared in a flash and was replaced by a wide smirk.

"Oh! I have a message from Itachi-san, seeing as you can't pick up your damn phone," the blonde said, smirk growing as the elder man groaned in aggravation that his staff couldn't at least give him one day of peace.

It only made sense that Itachi would be going to the cemetery, as it was his mother's birthday. The redhead thought as the blonde told him the rest of the message.

As he sat down at the kitchen table, Naruto couldn't help but think that the redhead looked more like thirty-two than his age of twenty-two as he pulled out his cell phone to call the elder Uchiha.

Before he left the room to make his call, Jin looked over his shoulder and said softly, "Naruto, I went and got some take-out from Ichiraku's for you; it's in the fridge. If you want, later on tonight, we can watch the new Paranormal Activity that came out on Netflix if you want. I know we haven't had much time to spend together, so go get your homework done and we'll meet back in the living room at nine. Sounds good?"

A heartwarming smile broke out on the blonde's face as he bounced over to give the redhead a tight embrace before nodding and dashing upstairs to start on his homework.

Jin chuckled as he went into his study. He didn't often get moments like tonight due to his unpredictable work schedule, but he loved his job. It helped him to be at peace which he wasn't sure would ever happen ever since his parents' brutal murder. There had been times where he doubted whether he should even keep pursuing the job that reminded him of his late father, but seeing the bright smile on his otouto's face when they could have these small moments made it worth it.

**000**

**I'm so sorry for the late updating. You see, what had happened was… I've got nothing. **

**But it's done so everybody wins. Anyway, the next chapter will be the last. **

****sorry, don't hate me!****

**In the next chapter, I will reveal the name of the sequel to this story so REVIEW!**

**CONSTRUCTIVE CRITISM IS WELCOMED AND FLAMES WILL BE USED TO ROAST MARSHMALLOWS ON SASUKE'S CARCASS!**


	4. Revelations

**Ohayo Hiei's Queen03 here! TGIF to everyone!**

**To celebrate this glorious and most favoured day of the week, I've decided to update! So without further ado, let's get on with the story!**

**Manga Dan: Thanks for the compliment**

**IkutoSasukeGaara Lover: I know you are going to love this chapter and even though this is the last chapter for this story, I have a sequel waiting in the wings. **read footnote at end BUT NOT before you read the rest of the story. :P****

**Psych0 f0x: Thanks for the compliment. It always warm my slightly icy soul when my readers review!**

**LadyEudave05: This chapter is for you and all of the other loyal fans!**

**Disclaimer: I do NOT own the Naruto Universe (If it wasn't obvious) as all rights belong to Kishi-sempai. However, I take solace in saying that I DO own Jin, but I will make a plan to steal the super-elusive and super-sexy Itachi yet **Plan X****

000

The next morning, Subaku Gaara woke up to the blaring of his alarm clock. He glared at said alarm clock, hoping that it would hopefully burst into flames if he glowered at it long enough. However, it did not, and the redhead got up with a sigh and trudged to the bathroom to relieve the pressure that he had woken up with in his pants.

He had been in the middle of a very erotic and vivid dream involving Uzumaki Naruto and himself and he had almost gotten the blonde completely naked—that was before the alarm clock had ripped him from his wonderful dream. And not he was stuck, trying to will his erection away as he washed himself in the shower.

After getting out of the shower, he found a Polo tee and black skinny jeans. He turned to walk out the door when his eye caught the glint of something gold and look over. A small and rare smile graced his lips as his teal eyes landed on the gold fox charm necklace that he planned to give Naruto on their date that weekend, and he stole one last glance at the necklace before hurrying down the stairs to the kitchen to get in some breakfast before he headed out. He usually skipped breakfast when he didn't want to put up with his elder sibling, and for a minute when he entered the kitchen, he contemplated just turning around getting his book bag and car keys and walking out the door. His treacherous stomach however decided to give a rather loud rumbled, that probably could have woken the entire neighborhood up, before he could put that plan into effect.

Hearing the noise, his older sister, Temari, looked up in surprise from the refrigerator.

"Hey, emo brat," she teased, crossing over to her little brother and ruffled his hair.

"Hey get off!" the redhead squirmed out of the blonde's grasp, just as his older brother, Kankuro came into the kitchen.

"Oh, is the drama starting this early in the morning?" the elder redhead inquired. He wasn't used to seeing his little brother in the kitchen, as he would already be out the door before they could get downstairs.

"I was just wondering why our little emo brother is up so early. He usually doesn't come downstairs or anywhere near the kitchen until he's sure that we're out of the room because he's so antisocial," the blonde said, turning to her younger brother, as he bit into an apple.

"I think it has something to do with that blonde of Sasuke's that I saw him hanging out with yesterday. Am I right?" Kankuro said, in between bites of his apple.

Up until then, Gaara had had been ignoring them, pouring himself a glass of orange juice. He had just taken a sip when Kankuro had uttered those words, causing the younger to promptly choke on liquid that he was swallowing and turn a shade of red that matched his hair.

Deciding that he no longer wanted the orange juice, Gaara dumped the rest of the liquid into the sink followed by the glass. He would wash it when he got home later, but he thought that he should leave now before things got any worse, which it did.

"I knew it! Gaara's got a crush on Sasuke's boyfriend!" the elder boy bit out between fits of laughter. He stopped however, when Temari whacked him on the head with her open hand. She couldn't believe it.

"That's not funny, Kankuro!" she bit out, annoyed at her brother's antics. Then looking at her youngest brother she said calmly, "Gaara, you can't mess with their relationship! That's not fair to Sasuke or to his boyfriend! If Sasuke-"

However, the redhead cut off her with such venom in his voice that Temari immediately silenced herself. Neither sibling had seen that colouring to his voice before, not even when he got in one of his maddest moods.

"I'm not messing up anything!" the redhead roared and they both sweatdropped; they knew that the redhead had a very temper and did not want to be on the receiving end of it this early in the morning.

In a effort to soothe the irate redhead, Temari put her hands up in surrender. "Okay, we're sorry Gaara. Why were you with Sasuke's boyfriend? What's his name, for one?"

They wanted to know more about why their baby brother was hanging around with his ex-boyfriend's new flame without setting the redhead off.

"His name is Naruto and he _isn't_ that bastard's boyfriend anymore!" Gaara growled, making sure to emphasize the isn't part, "he broke Naruto's heart when he humiliated and dumped him in front of the whole fucking cafeteria! I can't believe I actually thought that someone like him could actually change and do right! I should have warned Naruto when that filthy bastard tried to hit on me again the day before he broke up with Naruto! But I found out something yesterday: Naruto has had a crush on me for a while, but because he thought that being with me was an unobtainable goal, he settled for that Uchiha bastard, who took advantage of him!"

When the redhead was finished, he was panting slightly with the hatred that was coursing through his veins as a thick silence fell over the kitchen.

"Wow… Well, what are you going to do? He obviously likes you," Temari teased, causing the Subaku to blush again.

"I already know what I'm going to do. I've never-" he started to say something, but stopped when his eyes caught sight of the time.

"Shit! I've gotta go! I promised Naruto I'd walk him to class! I'll see you bitches later," the redhead called over his shoulder as he put on his sneakers and grabbed his book bag and keys, walking out the door, to his car, without a backwards glance.

As the engine roared to life, its' inhabitant finished the thought that he almost admitted to his siblings, by mistake, "I've never felt anything so powerful as what Naruto makes me feel." As he sat there, the redhead wondered when they had crossed, but he knew the answer to that question immediately: he wanted to know the blonde and make him happy.

_Make him happy._

As that single thought ran through his head, a ripple of rage ran through him as his mind wandered back to one particular time he saw the blonde alone and crying. That one time just before winter break is where he thought it had all begun.

-Flashback-

_The redhead has slipped into the silent and empty gymnasium, appreciating the silence, as he waiting for his next class to start. _

_As he made his way to sit on one of the bleachers, a sniffling sound made the Subaku stop in his tracks, as panic took over. No one was ever in this place during lunch, a fact which appealed to the redhead, as he hated the chatter of the lunchroom most days._

_As he quickly yet silently approached the bleachers, where the sound was coming from out under, he froze at the sight: a tan boy with blonde hair that rivaled the sun and a pair of bottomless turquoise eyes that were now staring horror-struck at him. However, the redhead's sea green eyes were more interested at the blonde's bare arms, which were littered with what the red-haired boy instantly recognized as slash mark made by some sort of blade. The blonde was a cutter._

_Said blonde noticed where the redhead's eyes were and hastily put his jacket back on, cutting off the redhead's view of aforementioned cuts, a blush blossoming over his tan cheeks._

"_What are you doing here?" the blonde demanded, angrily._

**"**_**What's he so angry about? It's no big deal,"** the redhead thought as he shrugged and answered the blonde's question, "I have gym for my next class and I didn't exactly want to sit in the cafeteria; those people give me a headache, so I usually end up in here. What are you doing in here?"_

"_I come in here to think and to get away from those kids and because Sasu-"_

_The redhead frowned when the blonde cut himself off. Gaara somehow knew that the raven probably had something to do with the blonde's tears and that made his blood boil._

_Before he could open his mouth to say anything, the blonde dashed from his position under the bleachers, mumbling something that sounded something similar to "I have to go" before the redhead was alone in the gym._

_-Flashback End-_

He had wanted to say so much about what was wrong and was he crying because of his asshole of a boyfriend.

He wanted just to comfort the blonde and wipe his tears away. Because he knew what it was to be on the receiving end of the raven's verbal abuse.

As he thought about that and drove to school, he cursed under his breath as a reality sunk into his head; he had told the blonde to meet him by the gates, in between the school and the football field, which Gaara had forgotten up until now was way too close for his comfort to the spot where the popular kids tended to mill before homeroom started. He just hoped the popular kids wouldn't bother Naruto too much

_Shit._

000

Naruto leaned against the gate that separated the school from the street, form tense as he his aqua eyes flitted from the parking lot to the place where the popular kids had started to gather and back to the parking lot. God, he hoped Gaara would hurry up and that that Sasuke wouldn't get there until they were safely inside the building.

As he stood there, waiting for the Subaku, he pulled out his cell phone and texted his best friend as he tried to ignore the fact that all the popular kids gave him dirty looks and some were even making snide comments.

_Sakura, I'm meeting with Gaara this morning. I'll see you in homeroom._

Just as he hit the send button and put his cell back into his p, the voice he had been dreading, was coming close, as the raven came into view, along with his bestie, Hozuki Suigetsu, by his side.

Whatever the raven was about to say to the albino was caught in his throat, in shock, as his eyes widened when its raven orbs clashed with azure ones. When his surprise subsided, a knowing smirk came across his face.

"Why are you here? Is it because you finally want to come back or because Gaara dumped you too, dobe?" he said, his eyes turn into ones of mocking.

Naruto sighed warily. He had knew that the raven would think that and that was the last thing that he needed in his life right now because he didn't want to be reminded how Sasuke had broken his heart. After a moment, he said softly, "no, I'm not here because of either."

This pissed the Uchiha and he bit out through clenched teeth, "Then why the fuck are you here, then?"

Either way, this wasn't going to end very well. With this in mind, the kitsune took a deep breath before saying calmly, "I'm waiting on Gaara."

As soon as the blonde uttered those words, there was an instant silence from the others as they heard the Uchiha snarl in an animalistic way.

"WHAT!" the raven roared, as his eyes flashed a dangerous scarlet, as he lunged for the smaller teen, slamming his fist into the smaller teen's stomach, making him double over in pain as he tried to catch his breath.

Not wanting to give Naruto time to catch his breath, Sasuke prepared to strike the blonde again; however, a growl sounded from behind the crowd, making everyone freeze, as the Subaku emerged.

"Touch him again, Uchiha, and I'll kill you!" the redhead snarled through clenched teeth, as he pushed the Uchiha away from the blonde and offered him his hand, which the smaller teen gratefully took, causing uproar.

"What the fuck do you think you're doing, Subaku?" the raven roared, his face flushing red with rage.

At this, the redhead smirked and said each word slowly to make sure Sasuke would understand how much he had royally fucked up. "Doing what you couldn't, Uchiha and actually loving him. You had your chance and you blew it. Well actually, you just didn't blow it; you shredded it into tiny pieces and pounded it into dust. He doesn't want you back. Actually, I'll let you in on a little secret: he didn't want you in the first place; he wanted me from the very beginning. The only reason that he went out with your ass is because he wanted my attention and probably thought that he could get it if he hung around with you. But I bet that once he saw what I saw, he decided that it wasn't worth it. Come to think of it, you probably wouldn't have caught my attention that you were doing him wrong if you hadn't let your ego get the best of you and decided to publicly humiliate him. If you had just dumped him in private, you wouldn't be in this mess."

It was silent for a minute, as Sasuke processed that information.

_That couldn't be true. There's no fucking way that he played me like that! I could've told if that was true!_

"You're a fucking liar! He never wanted you, Subaku!"

This response made the Subaku chuckle as he couldn't believe that the Uchiha was so full of himself that he couldn't see the truth. "Okay, since you're so convinced that I'm wrong, let's hear what Naruto thinks."

Turning to the blonde, the Subaku said softly, "Naru, tell this bastard what you told me yesterday, when I drove you home."

The small teen took a deep breath and said, "It's true, I had some feelings for you, but you weren't the one that I wanted. I did it because I knew that it would get me closer to the man that I truly loved, but seemed impossible to have. I love Gaara and I've always had a crush on him, from the first day I came to this school. I'm sorry, Sasuke. I didn't mean to play you like I did, but I didn't know how else to get his attention."

When he heard those words, something inside him snapped and the Uchiha lunged for the smaller boy, wanting to hurt him in every meaning of the world. However, he was yanked back from the blonde by Gaara, whose eyes had a murderous glint to them. "I'm warning you, Uchiha. Touch him and you're dead!"

Sasuke spat in the redhead's face as he screamed, "Fuck you! This is your entire fault! I've seen the way you've made passes at him when he was still with me, Subaku! Well you know what, you can have that whore because you two belong together!"

That's when Gaara snapped, losing all control as all the hate and contempt that he held for the Uchiha came bubbling up to the surface with a vengeance, and he sent a punch crashing into the raven's stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Gaara sent another bone shattering punch to the raven's face, before he could recover.

Picking the teen up by his hair, he snarled, "Don't you ever call Naru a whore, you asshole! Especially when the reason that we broke up is because you let a senior that you didn't even know fuck your ass! I was faithful to you and you not only verbally abused me, but you cheated on me! So, don't even let that bullshit pass through your mouth!"

With one final punch, the redhead turned to the frightened blonde, and groaned inwardly.

_Great, now that he's seen this side of me, he's probably afraid of me._

He slowly walked over to the trembling teen and said as softly as he could, "I'm sorry you had to see that. Are you ready to go, Naru?"

He found that his voice all of a sudden didn't work so he just nodded and with one final look at the bleeding Uchiha, took the Subaku's hand and went into the building.

Although it frightened him to see that side of Gaara, he was also elated that Gaara had stood up for him and he hoped with all his heart that they would be together forever.

000

**Well, there you have it! A great way to end this story if I do say so myself! I thought of ending it here due to a review that was posted on the original Love Blossoms Fanfic. The sequel to this story will focus more on Naruto's hidden past, if you remember the original story. However, I will change some elements and hopefully get that out to you guys soon.**

**The title will be Eien no Ai.**

**Sayōnara**


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